Here's Some Love

AMG Review of Here's Some Love

Thom Jurek
All Music Guide

At the age of 18, Tanya Tucker had nothing left to prove to anyone. She'd been consistent in quality and chart power since 1972's Delta Dawn and its following string of singles and successful albums. This effort was issued when she was 16 during the middle of the 1970s. It was recorded at the height of outlaw fever, and in true Tucker fashion, she wasn't following any trends. Now on MCA, Tucker and producer Jerry Crutchfield sought to continue the crossover appeal she had established on previous recordings. Hence, Here's Some Love is perhaps the most uncharacteristic record of Tucker's early career, as it features her first real forays into pop territory yet retains some of the most rootsy country songs she'd recorded up to that point -- most notably, "Round and Round the Bottle Goes," "You Just Loved the Leavin' Out of Me," "The Gospel Singer," "I Use the Soap," and "Take Me to Heaven." These are delivered with Tucker's mature voice, full, less-grainy, and more disciplined. But it's the title track, with its soft rock sensibilities; and the country rocker "I'm Gonna Love You Anyway," with its ultra-modern-sounding drums and near-funky guitars; and Dave Loggins' "Comin' Home Alone," with its sweeping string arrangements and orch song arrangement, that come across more like Brenda Lee than Loretta Lynn. "Holdin' On" is arranged to sound like a cross between Charly McClain and Jimmy Buffet. What all this counts for is not clear until we consider records like T.N.T. and those she made later -- that Tucker was restless and wanted to break her own mold. Here's Some Love is her very first attempt. And while it may not be as compelling as her earlier -- or many of her later -- records, it nonetheless has more than enough moments to keep it satisfying.